Homily, 2-12-24; Monday of the 6th Week in Ordinary Time:
Somebody asked me what I was going to do anything special for Valentine’s Day this year. I said: “I am going to rub ashes on people’s face and remind them that they are going to die.” Yes, Ash Wednesday falls on Valentine’s Day this year. It seems like the Christmas Season has just ended and now this Wednesday we will begin our Lenten Season. Now it is time to decide what prayers and sacrifices we will choose to take on during Lent.
St. James gives us some good direction this morning for living out our chosen Lenten practices. We choose to fast and pray and give alms because of our faith. We do these things because of our love for God even though they create trials for us. And so we know that as we journey through Lent and we these face trials, we will be tempted to lapse from our intentions. If you give up chocolate, you will be tempted by someone offering you some. If you give up wine, you will sit down to a spaghetti dinner and crave a glass of wine to go with it. If you decide to say an extra rosary each day, you will find yourself at the end of a busy day trying to find the energy to take the time to pray it.
It is at these times that we can look to St. James’ words: “Consider it all joy, my brothers and sisters, when you encounter various trials, for you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. And let perseverance be perfect, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” We can remind ourselves that, if we persevere, it will lead toward perfection and that will ultimately result in great joy.
We are inclined to succumb to our temptations because our faith is not strong enough. If we have complete faith in Jesus and all that He teaches us and promises us, we would easily persevere through any trials we encounter. So St. James tells us to pray for wisdom and to pray for that wisdom with great faith, without doubting that God will give us what we ask for.
We don’t necessarily pray for wisdom about the things of the world. We pray for wisdom about the things above, about God’s will for us. But be sure you are ready. Be careful what you ask for. Pray in faith, without doubt, to the Holy Spirit and He will give you wisdom. There is the common expression: “Ignorance is bliss.” We can go merrily on our way, lacking wisdom, oblivious to what God wants and expects of us. But with wisdom comes accountability and trials. The good news is that when we persevere in those trials it will lead us to true joy and happiness.